Unbeaten British middleweight in bullish mood after stopping Emanuele
Blandamura in the eighth round in Manchester

Unbeaten Billy Joe Saunders added the European middleweight title to his résumé which includes the British and Commonwealth crowns on Saturday night in Manchester, stopping Emanuele Blandamura in the eighth round.

Saunders, elevated to the main event following the withdrawal of heavyweight Tyson Fury on Saturday morning, landed a lead right hook which sent the hitherto unbeaten Italian into the ropes.

Saunders, admitting it was not one of his best performances having looked sluggish in two of the rounds, immediately called out British rival Chris Eubank Jnr, with the pair on a collision course to meet later this year.

Eubank is unbeaten in 17 contests; Saunders moved to 20 successive career victories. Saunders admits Eubank has got under his skin. Eubank had earlier enjoyed a first-round stoppage over Ivan Jukic.

Saunders insisted he wants to face Eubank. "It's something I want to get off my chest. Eubank was on Twitter the other day slagging me off and going on.

"I should just tell him to get in the queue but I'm a proud man and he can't say he's going to knock me out and then go out and knock out a bum [Jukic] in one round."

"My team are right when they say Eubank's name shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence as mine because I'm in a different class to him. But if he's man enough to say he can knock me out then let him try and do it. Not a problem."

"I'm ready to fight at world level now," said Saunders. "I'm not saying I'm ready to beat Miguel Cotto [WBC champion] or Gennady Golovkin [WBA], but I could go up against Sam Soliman [IBF] now."

"Peter Quillin, the WBO champion, is fighting Matt Korobov first so that's one for the future but I'm ready for Soliman. No disrespect, because he beat Felix Sturm, but he's 40 years old now and not getting any younger. I'd take that."